(AP) — Former state Sen. Brenda Council has pleaded guilty to wire fraud for misusing campaign money for casino gambling.

Council pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court. As part of a plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend probation for the Omaha attorney when she’s sentenced in December.

Last year, Council pleaded guilty to two state misdemeanor counts related to false campaign finance reports. State prosecutors said the reports concealed her misuse of more than $63,000 in campaign donations at a Kansas casino. She was fined $500.

State Sen. Ernie Chambers, who beat Council to regain the legislative seat he held for 38 years, filed a complaint last fall that prompted the U.S. Attorney’s investigation.

Chambers said in his complaint Council violated federal laws by improperly transferring money across state lines.

(AP) — A 15-year-old girl has been cited with felony motor vehicle homicide in a fatal crash that killed a teenager in southeast Nebraska.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says the girl was also cited Wednesday with willful reckless driving, no operator’s license and no seat belt.

The girl was driving a car on a county road just north of Waverly with five other teenagers on board in late August. The car lost control and two of the six were ejected. A 15-year-old boy, Taylon Artman, was killed.

The county attorney will decide whether to charge the girl as an adult or as a juvenile. The Associated Press generally does not name juveniles charged with crimes.

(AP) — A 50-year-old Nebraska farmer who had 3 pounds of methamphetamine delivered to his home has been sentenced to federal prison.

Robert Bernt, of Phillips, on Wednesday was given 19 years behind bars. He must serve five years of supervised release when he leaves custody and must forfeit nearly $5,000 found in a search of his property.

Prosecutors say a box addressed to Bernt was noticed at a Grand Island parcel sorting center on June 6, 2012, and was taken to the Grand Island Police Department. A drug dog indicated the smell of drugs was present. Court records say investigators found meth inside the box.

Officers arrested Bernt after the package was delivered to his home.

He eventually pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy.

(AP) — A lawsuit filed by the city of Grand Island against an Oshkosh, Wis., ambulance manufacturer has been moved to federal court in Omaha.

The city sued Oshkosh Corp. and its subsidiary, Pierce Manufacturing Inc., in 2011, saying an ambulance it bought from the defendants is a lemon that spent more time in the shop that transporting patients.

The city paid nearly $206,000 for the ambulance that was delivered in September 2009. City officials say within two weeks, it was in the shop for electrical and other problems. It then went back 18 more times until it was taken out of commission on April 17, 2012.

The city is seeking the cost of the ambulance, plus interest, $6,000 for the cost of a replacement rental and attorneys’ fees.

(AP) — Flash flooding in northern Colorado has left two people dead, and the widespread high waters are keeping rescuers teams from reaching stranded residents and motorists in Boulder and nearby mountain communities as heavy rains hammer the area.

Boulder Office of Emergency Management spokeswoman Gabrielle Boerkircher says volunteers are trying to help stranded people until emergency crews can arrive because many roads are impassable.

Boerkircher says one person died when a structure collapsed in Jamestown. Colorado Springs spokeswoman Kim Melchor says police found another person dead in the water on the city’s west side.

National Weather Service meteorologist Bob Kleyla says a 20-foot wall of water was reported in Left Hand Canyon north of Boulder. He says a firefighter radioed he was trapped in a tree, and rescuers were trying to get through.

 

(AP) — An Oregon man has been given prison time for transporting more than 100 pounds of marijuana across Nebraska.

45-year-old Raul Verdugo Jr., Ashland, Ore., was sentenced Tuesday to 20 months to three years in prison.

The Nebraska State Patrol says Verdugo was stopped in January 2012 on Interstate 80 in Seward County for speeding. A drug patrol dog indicated the smell of drugs in his vehicle, and a search turned up the marijuana.

Verdugo later pleaded no contest to possession of more than 1 pound of marijuana and no drug tax stamp.

(AP) — A Nebraska prison inmate who assaulted a correctional officer earlier this month while being treated at a hospital has died.

The Nebraska Correctional Services Department says Robert Carter had been dealing with significant long-term health problems before he died Tuesday.

The 50-year-old was serving a 30-year sentence for several counts of robbery and for assaulting an officer. He wasn’t projected to be released until 2036.

Officials say Carter stabbed a correctional officer with a butter knife when he was being treated at a Lincoln hospital on Sept. 5.

Carter, who was from the Omaha area, was in the prison’s nursing care unit when he died.

A grand jury will investigate the death because Carter was in state custody.

(AP) — Miss Kansas Theresa Vail says she wants to break the stereotype that women with visible tattoos don’t compete in pageants.

So during the swimsuit portion of the Miss America competition on Tuesday, Vail revealed two tattoos — the Serenity Prayer on her right side and the insignia of the U.S. Army Dental Corps on her left shoulder.

Vail is a 22-year-old senior at Kansas State University. She’s also a member of the Army National Guard who wants to become a military dentist.

Her platform is helping women overcome stereotypes and break barriers.

Given her platform, she wrote on her blog last month: “What a hypocrite I would be if I covered the ink.”

The Miss America pageant is back in Atlantic City, N.J., after a six-year absence. The finale will be Sunday night.

(AP) — A scabies outbreak spread to officers and inmates and forced a deep cleaning with disinfectants at the Hall County Jail in Grand Island.

County corrections director Fred Ruiz on Tuesday told Hall County board members about the health problem. He says it began about three weeks ago and probably was caused by a new prisoner. The outbreak spread to 13 jailers and five other inmates.

Scabies is a skin infection caused by a mite that burrows under a person’s skin and causes intense itching.

The infected inmates were segregated and treated with a medicated cream. The infected officers were sent home and told to see doctors.

Ruiz says only one new scabies case has surfaced in the past eight days at the jail.

(AP) — Firefighters have found the body of an 82-year-old Omaha woman inside a burning house.

The fire was reported about 6:30 a.m. Wednesday in central Omaha, and fire officials say it was under control by 6:45 a.m. The cause is being investigated.

Authorities haven’t release the woman’s name. Reid Jacobson told the Omaha World-Herald that his mother, Helen Jacobson, lived alone at the house.

An autopsy has been ordered.